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Dr. Loretta, Veterinarian

Category: Veterinary

Satisfied Customers: 26849

Experience: 25 years of experience in large and small animal medicine.

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Dr. Loretta is online now

our female german shepperd is only 3 1/2 years old. our male

Customer Question

our female german shepperd is only 3 1/2 years old. our male is 5 years old. she had puppies 1 3/4 year ago then we had her neutred. they were always very much in love and playful with another. he gave her so much attention also when SHE WAS NOT IN HEAT!!!now he is ignoring her and she became VERY DEPRESSED. she looks for love and playing all the time, but he ignores her; we live on a 4 1/2 acre property, and they have lots of space for running and playing. PLEASE (i know it is a very dumm unusual question)is there ANYTHING we could spray on her (closed to pheromonefragrance) or feed her, that he gives her more attention?? please don't think we are grazy, these 2 were so great with each other but now she is always sad and depressed, please help us with an answerthank you Christina

Good Morning Christine and welcome to Just answer. I am Dr. Loretta, a licensed veterinarian and I am happy to answer your question.

I feel your pain, Christine and this is very difficult for you and for your girl.

It is not unusual for something to happen after this procedure is done that makes your girl seem foreign to Max....almost as if they do not know each other. This cause anxiety between the 2 dogs and depression for your girl. It may also be that your girl is acting depressed due to the chemical imbalance caused by this procedure and this depression can be serious and cause Max to stay away. This LINK may help.

It will take time, but Max will eventually get over this anxiety and become buddies again with your girl. There are aids, Christine that will help them past this.

Purchase a DAP Collar (Dog Appeasement Pheromone) at the pet store. This is a canine pheromone that acts as a calming agent and will decrease anxiety. Place this on both dogs. Also, purchase Rescue REmedy which is a holistic anti anxiety medication available at the pet store and give this to both dogs.

After this, take them for walks together , play ball with them together and talk to both of them in soft voices. Make sure to pay attention to both dogs equally. Give them treats together and give a treat when they act or play together.

If this is not enough, your vet will have anti anxiety medications to help that are stronger Christine and will help them past this.

Don't worry Christine....there are ways around this but you have ot take some time and be patient.

Does that make sense to you, Christine?

Please let me know if you have ANY other questions. My goal is to give you 100% satisfaction and if you are not yet satisfied, please Reply so I can clarify for you

Loretta, there is NO anxiety, a local good vet diagnosed both of them! they play with us , i am not working, am home , we play all the time, they are happy while playing, but when Nori approaches Max when they go out alone together , he turns away--that's WHEN she reacts depressed. we cannot immagine that ther is not a pheromone spray or collar which makes her more desireable.

I am so sorry, Christina...I did not mean to miss the mark and was not aware that they will play together when you are there.

I say"anxiety" because Max does not "recognize" Nori because of the different odors that she emits from this procedure and the odors from the vet. The lack of estrogen can be very strong and the DAP Collar and sprays are very effective at decreasing this "anxiety" that Max is experiencing because he does not recognoze Nori as the same dog. These will act to calm him down and eventually accept that Nori is the same dog. There are no pheromones that will help Max be atrracted to Nori....it is only these that will help him accept Nori again.

I know, Christine, that this is stressful, but I do believe that this will help them get back to where they were before this. I am sorry if I did not explain well enough but it is worth a try. This is an odd phenomenon with dogs and cats that when one is taken to the vet, they have a very different odor which makes them think this is a foriegn animal. Time and some help gets them past this.

thanks loretta, i think the not explaining right is on my side. max and Nori are always TOGETHER at their vet; this was 3 month ago; they are in perfect health; but we did not answer the question there. i thaught, you know so much, you might have a little trick-pheromone.

please, when we buy the collar, WHERE do we get it, WHICH ONE is the best; WHEN, does he have to wear it??? day and night or day only?

as i already mentioned, when we are playing together they are active and happy;

BUT then there are this many moments when she kisses his nose and tries so hard to attract him, then he turns away.

It is hurting me because in that situation she looks at me so sad and her eyes ask--what do i do wrong--?

please answer me one more time where to get the coillar and when to wear it. BECAUSE as i explained, this only happens in Nori's approaching moments, (they are often), not when playing.

Buy the collar at the pet store along with the spray. Place the collar on Max and when you see this rejection by him, spray this in this area. These can both be purchased at any pet store or online....I really believe this will help, Christine.

Thank you so much, Christina for your kind rating. It is very much appreciated! Do not hesitate to contact me with any other concerns that you may have about Max and Nori's situation. If you have other questions, please Reply.

I will tell you that...the things you have to go through to be an Expert are quite rigorous.

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